Nico Rosberg recorded the quickest time in the opening Formula 1 practice session for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver set a laptime 0.221secs quicker than his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Third fastest was the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat, who was almost a full second further back. It was an encouraging practice period for the Italian team with the second Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen sixth overall.

The Red Bull youngster had taken over Jean-Eric Vergne’s seat for the 90-minute session and impressed in his Friday morning outing.

Verstappen was one of three drivers who replaced regular runners. Brazilian Felipe Nasr took over Valtteri Bottas’s Williams seat and was 12th fastest overall.

Daniel Juncadella drove in place of Sergio Perez in the Force India. He had an eventful session, firstly leaving his garage directly in front of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari and then spinning at Turn 6.

Finally he brought out the red flags after losing the rear of his car and crashing headfirst into the barriers at Turn 8.

A number of drivers were struggling with the lack of grip on the newly-asphalted Interlagos circuit. Despite being held in dry, warm conditions, the 4.3km track was particularly slippery during this opening session of the weekend.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was fifth fastest, just one place ahead of local hero Felipe Massa in his Williams.

The second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was eighth, despite suffering a couple of high-speed spins. The Finn was one place behind Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus and ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren.

The Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and world champion Sebastian Vettel were tenth and 14th fastest respectively.

One driver who was unable to set a laptime was Jenson Button. At the end of his installation lap the British driver suffered a complete loss of power on his McLaren.

His mechanics spent the whole practice period fixing his power unit and despite a late attempt to rejoin the tack, he failed to leave the pits.

Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez also had electrical problems with his power unit and he too failed to set a laptime.